Blog: The Baker Family – ‘New Romance’

Kyra woke up feeling very grumpy (she was hangry because I had a plan for the day and didn’t let her have breakfast). I interpreted it as her being a moody teenager, she’s a romantic sim and the absence of a delicious boyfriend in her life was making her frustrated. It was Saturday, so she decided to ask Malcom Landgraab if he wanted to meet up. She had met him a few times and he seemed interested, so she arranged to meet him at the EZ Freeze ice-cream parlour (I needed a place for my teens to hang out. CC-free version available on the gallery #EZfreeze #CoolKitchen #IceCream @Cinderellimouse). Danni wasn’t about to let her sister wander off into the desert outskirts with an almost stranger, so agreed to be her bodyguard!

(Kyra has had a bit of a make-over, none of the game-eyes seemed quite right for her and I’ve been meaning to make some darker brown eyes for a while… so I finally made some! I also spent the last few days messing around with skintones/blushes/masks/overlays because… I don’t know… I have a lot of sims and felt like the skintones were starting to look a bit samey. I wanted a skintone with a bit more detail, and after a lot of messing, I finally settled on the one in the screenshots. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it on her, so I’m pretending it’s ‘fake tan’ so I won’t feel bad if I take it off her again!)

The girls arrived, excited to try the specialist ice-creams! But Kyra kept pouting and pulling grumpy faces, it was very funny, I think she was upset Malcom wasn’t paying her more attention. The girls grabbed their ice-creams (twin roses for Kyra and mint choc chip for Danni) and went to sit at the window with the view of the dinosaur.

‘Where is he?’ Kyra grumbled looking around the parlour. Then her eyes rested on another delightful specimen and she pulled a flirty face (autonomously… the little minx! It was Felix from the Clausen family.).

Danni, who was more likely to fist-bump a guy than flirt, laughed and rolled her eyes at her sister.

‘What?’ giggled Kyra, ‘I’m not going to sit around waiting, I need a plan B!’

‘He’s outside’, Danni spotted Malcom. Kyra stood up to look and sat back down: she wasn’t about to go running after him. He could come to her! Finally he came inside, but an old guy had sat down and was telling Kyra his life story. Kyra gave Malcom ‘HELP ME!’ looks until it finally dawned on him that maybe he should talk to her. Danni just sat there helpfully laughing at her sister’s predicament. XD

(At this point I gave Malcom a bit of a makeover too. I disliked that they’d made him into an evil criminal because I really liked the family in TS3 and found them very sweet. The Landgraab family can be a bit shifty, but I felt like Nancy broke the mould by marrying the humble Geoffrey, and Malcom is supposed to take after his father. In my mind he inherited the snobbiness and ambition of his mother, but the kind heart and geekiness of his father, and I edited his traits to reflect this. I also gave him a bit of a makeover to make him look less mean and a bit more like a posh nerd. Awwww… sweet!)

Kyra thought she’d give Malcom a taste of his own medicine (pun not intended) and started to ignore him, chatting to Michelle Clausen instead. Kyra and Michelle have always been very close friends in my previous games so I took the opportunity to build their relationship a little and it’s nice they hit it off so well! \o/ Malcom made me laugh by doing a muscle man pose as he took a selfie. Finally Michelle had to leave (where did everybody go?!) and Kyra turned her attention back to Malcom.

I also spotted Lena Clausen leaving the lot with a little friend, they almost looked like they were holding hands and I was pleased she’d made a new friend all by herself! I’m looking forward to making her a little geeky kid’s club when we get Get Together.

Kyra continued to act coy, sitting at the counter with her back to Malcom, but he quickly won her over. It’s obvious she really likes him because she gets all goofy when he flirts with her. Feeling a bit self-conscious with Danni watching, Kyra suggested they took their date to the local park. It was closer to home and safer than Oasis Springs, so Danni didn’t need to go with them, she reasoned.

Kyra and Malcom arrived at the park and Kyra dutifully texted her sister. Now it was just the two of them they got all flirty! It makes me laugh how goofy she goes around him, it’s adorable! She’s such a softie!

Little did Kyra know there was a spy in the park!

‘What are you doing behind that bush Michelle?’

‘Danni text me, she knew we were coming to the park and she wants us to keep an eye on her sister. I guess she’s just being over-protective.’

But Kyra spotted them! ‘Come on!’ she laughed and pulled Malcom away to a park bench.

‘What’s wrong?’ Malcom questioned, ‘Are you embarrassed to be seen with me or something?’

Kyra blushed, ‘Yes… I mean, no, not like that!’

‘Would you even be interested in me if I wasn’t a Landgraab?’

‘Of course I would!’ Kyra cried angrily, ‘Is that really what you think of me!? I like you because you’re sweet, and funny, and… and…’

Malcom blushed, ‘…and?’

Kyra couldn’t say that she was already thinking how he’d be a good husband one day! That he was kind and funny and made her feel all squishy inside. That he’d be able to look after her: he was smart and ambitious and would get a good job and… be a good father. She couldn’t tell him that she’d already planned their wedding and thought what their kids would look like.

‘…and I’m going to marry you for your money and kill you in the swimming pool, mwa ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!’ Kyra pounced on him and tickled him mercilessly!

‘Ok… ok… I get it, I’m sorry! I surrender! I surrender!’ he laughed, grabbing her wrists to stop her tickling him. Out of breath and smiling, he pulled her into a hug. ‘I’m sorry. Of course I know you’re not like that. I’m just insecure. It’s happened before, girls have paid no attention to me until they found out I have money, and then they suddenly they’re interested.’

Kyra thought back to the first time she’d met him. He’d been walking past while she was painting in the garden and they’d got into a conversation about art. She knew he was posh, she’d been able to tell that from his voice and his manner, and it would be a lie to say money meant nothing to her: money meant comfort. But she wouldn’t be with someone who she didn’t like.

‘Well… those girls are stupid,’ said Kyra resolutely, ‘You’re smart, and funny, and sweet… and if they can’t see that then it’s their loss.’

Kyra was surprised at how insecure Malcom was. All this time she’d been wondering what he saw in her! She’d seen all those gorgeous privileged girls swanning around the neighbourhood with their designer clothes and private school educations (I hope we get these things! #SimWish). They probably had so much more in common with Malcom than she did, the goofy working-class daughter of a baker, and with his family name he could have his pick of the bunch! She was scared of meeting his parents, what would they think of her? She didn’t dress like them, talk like them, eat like them or walk like them. Would they look down on her? Would they try and stop Malcom from seeing her?

All these things were running through her head as she unconsciously walked around the pond with Malcom’s hand warmly wrapped around hers. He stopped and looked at her seriously.

‘Look, Kyra,’ he said softly, ‘I’ve been thinking…’

Was this it? Was he about to break up with her?

‘…we should make this official. Can I call you my girlfriend?’

‘OMG! Of course! Yes!’ cried Kyra ungraciously, jumping up and down. She hugged him tightly, then drew away with an embarrassed smile before instinctively plunging forward for a first kiss. ❤

They said their goodbyes and Malcom walked away. He looked a bit uncomfortable in the trouser department. Tee hee hee.

After Malcom left, Kyra marched over to Michelle. ‘Hey stalker!’ she called laughing. She didn’t even notice Felix this time! The girls spent the rest of the evening giggling together in the toilets and cementing their relationship. ^___^